GRAMSCI The Crisis of British Capitalism since 1968 IN ROBERTS' VIEW the IMG and Fl were possessed n the carly seventies of a grotesquely exagerate sonception of the crisis of capitalism which led then to adope a series of ultra-leflist and subjectivist political positions. The Fourth International's theses on revolurionary perspectives in Europes and Britais publisbed in International, Vol 2, Nos 1 & 2) are cited by Roberts as the source of these errors. These documents argued that the post war boom was ending and that a generalised rocession throughout the capitalist world was imminent. Roberts quotes two amary statements from these documents: The ocialist revolution is once again on the agenda in Europe, nor just in broad historical perspective... but even from a conjunctural point of vien"; and in Binais, a neacon colsoo Delacen capital and labour sceros unavoidahle in the period before us'.
Both of these perspectives insisted that in the comу Роло с шо от anc Pro PowcE sop able of confronting the bourgoois state would he plac ed on the agcoda after the long quiescenoe of the perlod since 1948. In Britaia the first stepe on the path to such a development Iny through unifying and gentralising all curren scruggles in the direction of a General Strike to bring down the Tory government.
Roberts argues that the perspective of a 'growing economic orisis is commonly acepted on the left'. 1: Is ail very well to write this in 1976 when there is virtual unanimity on the depth of this crisis, not merely within the left, but in society as a whole. But in 1972 and 1973 when the USFI theses were tirat presented this was not at all the cose. Moreover these theses argued thar the approaching geocralisod repession would involve many novel elements compared there would be a "bead-on collision between capita and labour'. After the event it is, of course, possible to make a much richer and more specific analysis of the fundumental social and political forces engaged in this period, though curiously, Roberts makes no artempt to do chis.
The momentous strugeler against Heath led 1o widespread acceptance of important new metloda of struggle (e.g. factory ocupacions, flying mass pickets) and culminated in an unprecedented eruption estra-parlamentary proletarian action within the clectoral procedures of the bourgeois political order. The fact that the miners decided to remain on strike after Heath called an election was probably decisive in securing nn electoral victory for the Labour Parly and in undermining the tradiciooal electoral hase of the Conservative Party. The watchword that all currend warkers strugales should be unitied and extended into a general strike to bring down the Covernment was therefore, perfectly correct and tboroughty vindicarep by subsequent developments attempts to colicise Trotskyist politics coming trom this quarter, the article avolded traditional Stalinist slanders and instead sought to address itself to a seribas crilique of the political line of the Fourth International and is British section in the recen period. On this basis Roberts develops a critique of the theorelical tradition of Trotskyim, which be seas as necessarily producing the deviatiens be has sapposediy ientifier in che IMG and Fl.
The fundamenally orthodos CPGB standpoint of the author is indicated by Roberts" profession of loyalty to 'the broad contours of policy outlined in The Brilish Road to Socialism and basical (hough not exclusively) positive assessment of the role af the world communist movement. (plбl. Hosever, Roberts secks to bolscer up the positions of The British Rood to Socialism with an aletpt to appropriate the political legacy of Antonin Gramsei. His article this has the added interest of presenting currently fashionable theses of "Euro Communism on the nature of the revolution in the West, in the form of a critique of Trotskyism.
As me will show, Roberts" attack on the Troeskyist falsification, while his incerpretation of Gramsci and capitalist countries denies the real problems of Marxist strategy in a bourgoois democracy We will also consider his more specific critique of the perspectives af the IMO and Et in the last few years.
Bur in our view the leadership of the IMO at this tinse did not correcily interpret the USFI theses. le was everwhelmingly likely that Heath would in the circumsances call an election. The failure of the IMO at this time was that of substituting left propagandis phrase-mongering for a clear brientation to the General Election. In the view of the aurbors of this article, who formed an opposition within the IMG Tendership ar the cime and later formed an organised IMG should have advocated an independent campaig: for Labour and for an Accion Programme to meet the capitalist crisis. (2)
At some points in the dramaric clasbes belween Heath and the labour movement the IMG implied that there was an immediate prospect of developiog Institucions of dual power: Roherts quotes the special Issue of Red Weekly produced in the imediate afereach of the February 1974 General Election wher Heath tried to form a new governiment The Red Action by the miners brought down the Heath novernment in 1974
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COAL 4E3554P) PHASE III